Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD
Educational Pearls:
- Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) has been attempted as an adjunct to CPR during cardiac arrest but few studies on outcomes exist
- One prior small study stopped early when it showed ECMO with CPR (ECPR) was significantly superior to CPR
- Recent large, multicenter randomized control study in Netherlands evaluated neurologic outcomes in CPR versus ECPR
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- At 30 days and 6 months no significant difference between the groups was found
- More studies are required determine if certain patients may benefit from ECPR
References
Belohlavek J, Smalcova J, Rob D, et al. Effect of Intra-arrest Transport, Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, and Immediate Invasive Assessment and Treatment on Functional Neurologic Outcome in Refractory Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2022;327(8):737-747. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.1025
